Arbi Barayev

Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev (27 May 1974-22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord who was the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment. He was killed during the Second Chechen War in 2001.

Biography
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev was born in Alkhan-Kala, Chechen-Ingush ASSR, Soviet Union in 1974, and he became a police officer in 1990. In 1991, he became a personal bodyguard to his uncle Vakha Arsanov, the future Vice President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In 1994, during the First Chechen War, he took part in his first kidnapping, and, in 1996, he founded the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment to carry out hostage-takings, kidnappings, and oil smuggling. In 1997, the SPIR was placed under the control of the Interior Ministry, and Barayev drove out foreign journalists and humanitarian workers, while undermining the presidency of President Aslan Maskhadov. In 2001, during the Second Chechen War, Russian special military forces raided Barayev's residence near Alkhan-Kala, and Barayev, 16 other Chechens, and 1 FSB trooper were killed. Barayev's nephew Movsar Barayev and his widow Zura Barayeva were both killed during the Moscow theater hostage crisis.